Bob Harrison oger Patterson
Tom Robinson Bill Spence Tom Robinson Beowulf Cooper
ww ► •'•• _ • II
Bee Improvement • Spring 2006 and Conservation
£3.50 Number 23
Purvis Brothers Apiaries Inc.: 21st Centu Queens - poor matin sand
Some queen rearirit statistics Some thoughts on drone laying queens
Queen rearing in Denmark Drone congregations
Drones and queen mating
Readers may be aware that BIBBA
member Roger Patterson has been
drawing attention in the beekeeping
press to allegedly widespread prob-
lems over the last year or two in get-
ting queens mated satisfactorily.
Since much of the evidence is anec-
dotal, he uses his article to appeal
for some harder evidence from
BIBBA members. Tom Robinson has
already responded with some statis-
tics from his own beekeeping, while
Bill Spence suggests some reasons
why poor matings may have
occurred.
In this context the reprinting of
Beowulf Cooper's article on Drone
Congregations, based on a lecture
he gave at the 1981 BIBBA
Conference at Celle, Germany,
seems apposite. It deals with some
of the complex ecological mecha-
nisms which influence mating of the
honeybee - mechanisms which if
properly understood can help to
answer the oft-heard cry; "What's
the point of bee breeding - you can't
control the mating of queens?"
BIBBA Archive
Beowulf's article is illustrated with
some new photographs which have
come to light - another excuse for
reprinting it. They are part of a large
collection which is slowly being cata-
logued, scanned and digitised for the
benefit of BIBBA members, lecturers
and future generations.
This is in addition to the valuable
archival work being done by Janet
Hinchley, who is always pleased to
hear of any BIBBA-related papers
and other material which needs con-
serving and/or cataloguing.
Apimondia 2005
Another archival project is the col-
lection of photographic material on
Apimondia 2005 in Dublin, particu-
larly as it relates to BIBBA's partici-
pation. Richard Jackman is compil-
ing a CD/DVD of such material and
would like to incorporate contribu-
tions from as many people as possi-
ble. Since photographs will be
stored in separate folders there will
be no problem with attribution.
Richard can be contacted at:
<beeman©theberrow.co.uk>
Cell size in Norway - a correc-
tion
In Issue No.21 I referred briefly to
some experiments in Norway, which
as reported in Bee Culture, claimed
to support the idea that small cell
size was helpful in combatting var-
roa. I have been asked by the
Norwegian Beekeepers' Association
to print the following correction:
"About the article; Johnsen, H.O.
2005. Commercial Beekeeping in
Norway, Bee Culture Sept 2005.
A large amount of this article
describes results from a test of dif-
ferent cell sizes in beehives, accom-
plished in Norway in the period
2002-4. This is a test that the NBKA
has started and is responsible for, a
fact that Johnsen neglected in his
article. The NBKA owns both the
test and the exclusive rights to pub-
lish any of the results.
Hans Otto Johnsen has had knowl-
edge of some of the preliminary
results, because he has been one of
the people doing the practical work
with this project. He has also been
fully aware of the NBKA's ownership
of the results. The trust he has been
shown he has used against us, pub-
lishing parts of the results in his arti-
cles in Bee Culture and the BKQ. It
should be stressed that the total
results from the test so far appear to
have a rather different conclusion
than Johnsen's.
It is important for the NBKA to point
out that the test is not finished, that
the results in the mentioned articles
are taken out of a larger context,
and that Johnsen has published
some of the preliminary results with-
out the approval of the NBKA."
Dates for your diary
11-12 August 2006 BIBBA Stand
at Shrewsbury Flower Show.
24-29 July 2006 FIBKA Summer
Conference, Gormanston (see p.23).
8-12 September 2006 BIBBA
Conference, University of Bath (see
p.22).
18-22 September 2006 SICAMM
Conference, Versailles (see p. 23).
9-14 September 2007 Apimondia,
Melbourne, Australia.
Philip Denwood
2 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Purvis Brothers Apiaries Inc.: 21st century beekeeping Bob Harrison
Queens - poor mating and laying Roger Patterson
Some queen rearing statistics Tom Robinson
Some thoughts on drone laying queens Bill Spence
BIBBA Annual General Meeting 2006
BIBBA Accounts 2005
BIBBA Trustees' Report 2005
BIBBA AGM Minutes 2005
BIBBA Committee: nominations
Queen rearing in Denmark Tom Robinson
Conferences 2006
Breeding groups Sandra Unwin
Drone congregations Beowulf Cooper
Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association Founded in 1964 for the conservation, restoration, study, selection and improvement of the native and near native bees of Britain
and Ireland. Registered UK charity No.273827 http://www.bibba.com
President: Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, Burncourt, Cahir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland <[email protected]> (00 353)52 67205
Secretary: David Allen, 75 Newhall Road, Sandall, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN31QQ <[email protected]> 01302 885813
Committee Chairman: Terry Clare, 89 Chalky Bank Road, Rainham, Kent ME8 7NP <terryeclare@tiny world.co.uk> 01634 233748
Membership Secretary: Brian Dennis, 50 Station Road, Cogenhoe, Northants NN7 1LU <[email protected]>
Treasurer: Tom Robinson, 71 Broadway, York YO1 43P < [email protected]>
Breeding Groups Secretary: Sandra Unwin, 66 Elm Rd, Limehurst Village. Oldham OL8 3LB 01616 523313
Postal Book Sales: John Perkins, Tinker's Mill, Crickmerry, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 2BG
<[email protected]> 01630 638762
Bee Improvement Magazine Scientific Advisor: Professor Francis Ratnieks, University of Sheffield, Dept. of Animal & Plant
Sciences, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN 0114 2220070 < [email protected]> www.shef.ac.uk/»taplab/
Bee Improvement Magazine Editor: Philip Denwood, Hillview, Bulbourne, Tring, Hefts HP23 5QE. <[email protected]>
01442 827602
Cover photo: Beowulf Cooper. George Sommerville fielding helium-filled ballons with tethered queen for drone assembly studies.
Port Erin Golf Course, Isle of Man, June 1973..
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 3
Purvis Brothers Apiaries Inc.: 21st century beekeeping
Bob Harrison
I have seen many changes in beekeeping since I started
beekeeping as a teenager in DeLand, Florida. Our main
worries back then were American foulbrood. American
foulbrood was not hard to detect (especially once an AFB
frame was shown to you and you became familiar with
the smell).
Then came the tracheal [acarine] mites and approxi-
mately half the bee hives in the U.S. crashed. Many long-
time beekeepers left beekeeping. Then varroa arrived
and again approximately half of the bee hives crashed
(and in many areas are still crashing). Many beekeepers
again left the industry.
Several queen breeders have bred bees which will toler-
ate the tracheal mite without treatment and control now
can be made with simple approved treatments if detect-
ed by the beekeeper. Detection is best made with a tra-
cheal dissection and with a microscope. Many times
when you see the outward signs common to tracheal
mites, the hive is beyond saving through treatments.
Early detection and early treatment is the key to control-
ling the tracheal mite if you are not running a strain of
bees with proven tracheal mite tolerance.
The point I am making is that in today's complicated
world of beekeeping the beekeeper needs to adapt to
survive. Get a microscope and test for tracheal mites and
do varroa testing so you can know when you have a high
varroa population growing in your hives.
I have met a beekeeping family while searching for the
varroa-tolerant bee, which takes the meaning of bee-
keeping in the 21st century to new levels. We all know
U.S. beekeepers are fast running out of options as far as
easy control of varroa with chemical strips due to chemi-
cal resistance by the varroa. They are also very aware of
problems showing up now with high levels of those chem-
icals being found in brood comb (Jeff Pettis 2004). I
decided three years ago to look for a varroa-tolerant bee
and only use, if needed, soft methods of varroa control.
Since then, I have introduced a large number of
Russian/Russian queens and have given talks on the
Russian bee. The Russian bee is what brought Dann
Purvis and myself together. After several emails and con-
versations over the phone, I decided to drive to
Blairsville, Georgia and meet Dann and his family, see his
bee lab and look at his bees, which were not only surviv-
ing varroa untreated, but were surviving with varroa
pressure added. You can add varroa pressure by
installing and leaving frames of drone comb in all year.
Purvis brothers also rotate infested brood into the nest
from outside sources and do hive rotations when field
bees are flying to increase varroa pressure. The idea
Dann says is to increase natural selection. Dann says he
expects a 50% kill off when searching for survivors. All
the hives we looked at had the added varroa pressure.
They were thriving and by uncapping and pulling purple-
eyed drone from the comb, we found no varroa in the
four yards we looked at. I am sure that if we had looked
long enough we would have found varroa, but in the
hives we looked through we did not.
The Purvis Brothers bee lab was spotless and contained
top-of-the-line equipment for doing bee research. I did
my first instrumental insemination, as did the beekeeper,
who went with me, Justin Danner. Justin works for Kona
Queen in Hawaii, but has worked helping me since start-
ing in beekeeping. I am running Justin's bees with mine
until he returns next summer from Hawaii. I am proud to
have been mentor to Justin and feel Justin Danner will be
the kind of beekeeper other beekeepers will look to for
tough beekeeping answers in the 21st century.
Dann Purvis has taken several instrumental insemination
classes taught by Sue Cobey and the two have remained
friends through the years as teacher and student. Sue
Cobey still takes students on for advanced beekeeping
techniques, including instrumental insemination, at Ohio
State University in the W.C.Rothenbuhler lab building.
Purvis Brothers has been developing two lines of bees,
which have been shown to be varroa tolerant. The first
phase of the Purvis Brothers breeding program was to
collect, develop or confirm, and maintain genetic traits
that are considered to be important to survival and honey
production without chemical intervention management.
These traits were distilled down to six lines of bees over
a six-year period. Queen breeders (privately owned and
governmental), queen producers, beekeepers and feral
colonies from all regions of the United States were
sources of these traits. I was amazed at the paper trail
going back to the start of the project. Each source and
results are documented. For two consecutive days we
4 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
arrived at Purvis Brothers Apiaries early in the morning
and left around 10 p.m. at night. From my notes I will
try and detail the way Dann Purvis (as explained to me by
Dann) evaluated and culled the bees he used in his closed
population, six-way breeding program using instrumental
insemination.
1. Hygienic behavior.
Queens chosen would consistently test out at over 85%
within 24 hours. Most were 100% in 16 to 18 hours.
Dann used liquid nitrogen to freeze the brood and con-
firm all results with a follow up test after a two-week
wait.
2. Tracheal mite tolerance.
He insures that he has a constant tracheal mite pressure
in his breeding yards by bringing in outside sources
infested with tracheal mites and breeding from untreated
survivors. Dann has found that he has ended up with
bees with tracheal mite tolerance. Dissecting and inspec-
tion of the trachea by microscope of at least 50-bee sam-
ples per hive in late winter or in spring have confirmed
the tracheal mite tolerance. The 50-bee sample is taken
from every hive under evaluation. Samples are collected
in spring and fall because then hive populations are at
low levels.
Varroa mite tolerance is very complex and can be con-
fusing. Dann believes that most of the conditions and
genetic traits that contribute to a hive of bees being resis-
tant to varroa have been defined, explained, written
about, and researched. What is confusing to many is the
level of importance a particular trait has and how to bring
these traits together in the correct proportion to not only
achieve mite tolerance, but also survival of the resultant
line of bees.
Dann believes the only way to get correct proportion of
the genetic traits is to understand natural selection.
Natural selection is by far the purest and most successful
breeding program known to man.
4. Colour
Dann says colour has absolutely nothing to do with any-
thing other than how easy it is to find a light queen or a
dark queen. Until this year Dann could care less about
the colour of the bee. However, Purvis Brothers is work-
ing now to pull a lighter coloured bee from the line that
has evolved into mostly a darker but sometimes mixed
bee.
5. Honey production
Dann said he paid close attention to honey production
and keeps careful records on each hive in the program.
Dann considers this also to be a multi-gene trait. Honey
production has always been a concern when looking for
the survivor bee for the simple reason that bees will make
more honey when healthy than sickened or stressed. I
had excellent mite tolerance with the SMR bees I raised
from a Glenn Apiaries SMR breeder queen, but honey
production was poor and brood viability was very poor.
Dann believes the honey production trait to be a perfect
validation technique of his breeding program. Dann con-
siders that the honey production trait is the only quanti-
tative evaluation technique that has merit for a breeding
program based upon survivor/natural selection.
6. Spring build-up.
I was impressed Dann monitored spring build up. Dann
feels it too is a good indicator of the overall health of the
colony.
7. Propolis production.
I was amazed to learn the following on my trip to Purvis
Brothers as most of us consider propolis to be a nuisance
(unless you sell propolis). Dann does not select for or
against propolis production. Dann says he is coming to
the belief that propolis is important to the overall health
of the hive. It does make sense. Propolis is a natural
antibiotic, anti-viral and antiseptic. As strange as it may
seem, Dann has found his healthiest hives are the ones
which produce the most propolis. Now this could be a
coincidence and have no merit, but Purvis Brothers are
taking a closer look at their research bees than most bee-
keepers and feel that propolis production and hive health
are worth looking into further.
8 Swarm characteristics.
Purvis Brothers keeps their bees in a single Langstroth
deep plus a shallow for brood area. Dann says the bees
need the extra room because of the increased brood pro-
duction. After honey evaluations are done, they go back
into the hive and confirm that the hive is still queenright
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 5
Purvis Brothers Apiaries Inc.: 21st Century Beekeeping
Bob Harrison
with the breeder queen which has survived without
chemicals.
9. Brood viability.
Purvis Brothers considers brood viability as an indicator
of relative success. Brood viability is complex, so I am
quoting the following from Dann Purvis, as I am afraid my
wording might confuse the issue.
"Without going into how the loss of sex alleles has a neg-
ative effect upon hive strength and shows up as spotty
brood, we must consider several facts. First, out-cross-
ing or hybridizing a line of bees that has developed or
evolved into a poor brood viability condition can produce
colonies that appear outwardly healthy and vigorous.
But, underneath the first generation hybrid vigor, the
resultant bee can actually be taking large steps backward
if both sets of unrelated parents are largely different
genetically. In short, inbreeding bees and developing a
line or closed population is a balancing act that is often
far too difficult for breeders to manage. If it weren't, we
would not have the problems we are experiencing. Bees
adapt very rapidly. They are designed to mate outside of
their own gene pool. The problem is that in most areas
the survivors are not close enough to cross their similar
superior genes. At the same time, many breeders cannot
develop a bee that survives without chemicals. Not only
that, but there is a third issue that plagues good hard-
working, but unsuccessful, breeders. This issue is select-
ing from too small of a population."
Anything less than 150 potential breeder hives Dann
considers not enough to select from. First, a gene pool
this shallow may not even have the needed tools (genes)
to start with. Dann believes that the higher the frequen-
cy of genetic matches will decrease the time it takes to
find a selected trait. Dann called this turnover: "If all you
evaluate is 50 colonies, you will end up with some well
defined colonies, but an eventual sex allele problem could
occur and it might take several yaers to find out you did
not even have the right genetic tools for survival and
honey production.
"Computer simulations demonstrated the following:
35-50 breeders (queens) are needed with random queen
selection to maintain at least 85% brood viability for at
least 20 generations" (Page & Laidlaw pg. I87 Queen
Rearing and Bee Breeding)
Dann says the key to their success lies in the following
points: "large numbers of potential breeders are put
through a trial which results in a black and white evalua-
tion - survival. Constant pest and disease load must be
exposed to all potential breeders. Chemical assistance is
not used in the management of any potential breeder.
Killing 50% of the potential breeders as a direct result of
pest and disease load is a Purvis Brothers Apiaries, Inc.
(PBA) yearly goal. Lastly, select from the top honey pro-
ducers."
Purvis Brothers Apiaries will be offering instrumentally
inseminated breeder queens and open mated production
queens from its two separate large closed population
breeding groups (gold & blue lines) for the first time this
spring.
Both the lines are strong survivor lines. The PBA blue
line is also a high honey producing survivor line from pure
USDA-ATIS Russian breeders. The Russian/Russian are
not hybrids like many on the market.
I became interested in the Russian lines three years ago.
I was amazed I could not find any Russian/Russian pro-
duction queens. I was told by the bee labs to buy the
hybrids and an instrumentally inseminated breeder
queen. I was lucky-enough to be able to get a 100%
Russian Russian three years ago to start the project and
a 100% Russian/Russian this spring.
Thanks to Dann Purvis I now have several instrumental-
ly inseminated breeder queens of the Blue line which con-
tain the genetics I will need to keep my gene pool correct
(hopefully). We also brought back PBA gold line queens
and have raised a few daughters. We introduced five
PBA gold line queens into hives with a Parasitic Mite
Syndrome (PMS) problem and the PMS cleared up. I
hope to have my whole operation containing all varroa-
tolerant queens by late spring and my beekeeping part-
ner plans to requeen most of his operation with the PBA
gold line survivor queens. My partner likes the gold line,
as they are easy to introduce compared to the Russians.
Beekeepers helping other beekeepers is a winning com-
bination. I thank Dann Purvis, his wife, Rosanne, and
sons, Jack, Matt, Alex and Koda for their hospitality. I
thank Dann for sharing information and teaching instru-
6 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
mental insemination to Justin and myself. We hand-car-
ried our queens back from Georgia. I am sending the
best of my Russian survivor queens to Dann in the spring
to use in his Russian program.
You can contact Purvis Brothers Apiaries at the following
address if you have questions about their breeding pro-
gram or want to share varroa-tolerant queen information
like I did.
Purvis Brothers Apiaries
Trackrock Camp Road
Blairsville, Georgia 305I2
I (706) 78I-3I28 office
Jack showing off a frame of his finished queen cells.
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri
Reprinted by kind permission from the
American Bee Journal, [email protected]
Alex, the youngest of the brothers, grafting cells for future
inseminated breeder queens. His young hands, eyes and dex-
terity yield some of the best cells produced at PBA.
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 7
Queens - poor mating and laying
Roger Patterson
Queens - poor mating and laying — your help need-
ed please!
As I am sure you are aware I have been highlighting
the problems I have experienced in getting queens mated
and laying satisfactorily. I have had many people contact
me explaining similar instances, including what is becom-
ing known as the "Mary Celeste" syndrome. This is where
there are no bees left in a hive in the spring, after an
apparently healthy colony went into winter with what
appeared to be a good queen.
Amongst the messages I have had are:
One beekeeper who has had 3-4 colonies for many
years whose winter losses have been minimal. By the
middle of January 2006 all his colonies had died, with
very few bees left. Effectively the Mary Celeste syn-
drome.
Another beekeeper of 12-15 years experience who looks
after his Division's apiary. On going through his records
he discovered that all 11 colonies in his charge, which
included his own, had superseded in the summer of
2005.
I had an e-mail from a bee researcher at the University
of Georgia stating that 50% of their queens supersede
within 5 months, and it is the same throughout the U.S.
A lady who took two swarms and both queens started
laying well, but both soon "disappeared"
All of these cases are typical of reports I am receiving,
but most of them are anecdotal and from beekeepers
who may not keep records. In order to seek research
funding we need to demonstrate there is a widespread
problem, and the nature of it. I am therefore asking as
many beekeepers as possible to report any problems they
may (or may not) have in 2006. This is quite easy and
involves a questionnaire where I ask for simple details,
such as county, varroa treatments, queen raising meth-
ods etc, so I can understand their situation when reports
come in. When this is received a very simple reporting
form is sent out and kept until a problem occurs. This is
filled in and sent back.
It is obvious that BIBBA members are likely to be in a
good position to supply information, firstly because they
are likely to be raising their own queens, and secondly
because they may have records good enough for our pur-
poses. Can I appeal to all BIBBA members to respond by
contacting me ASAP, as the signs are that I am going to
be very busy this summer! Some members may have
already contacted me or be involved via their local BKA's,
in which case there is no need to duplicate.
Roger Patterson
01403 790 637
Lecturer/Demonstrator panel
BIBBA is often asked to provide an "approved" lecturer
or demonstrator for outside organisations and some-
times for our own members. As he or she are repre-
senting BIBBA it is clearly necessary that they have the
necessary skills and expertise as well as being in sympa-
thy with the aims and objectives of BIBBA.
As you know, already we have a small number of mem-
bers who fulfil the necessary requirements but there
must be many other members who can share in this
work. If we are to promote BIBBA and its aims it is
important that we establish a register of members who
can undertake such duties.
A small expert panel is being created so as to establish
this register. In the meantime I would urge you to give
this idea careful consideration and in confidence contact
me giving me your contact details, area(s) of knowledge
or expertise, qualifications if any, experience, availabili-
ty, willingness to travel, any experience in lecturing or
demonstrating.
Terry Clare
(contact details on page 3)
8 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Some queen rearing statistics
Tom Robinson
I began queen rearing in earnest in 1986 and soon found that
not all queen cells emerge.
I found that on average 80% of day old larvae can be con-
verted to queen cells by the method I use, and by the way all
my equipment is British Standard.
My system involves completing a double brood, queen right
colony with 11 frames of brood in all stages above a queen
excluder, and the queen is in the bottom box. More than one
colony can be prepared depending on the number of queens
required.
The following week the colony is converted into a queen-less
single brood with all the bees from both boxes, with no eggs or
young larvae available for the bees to raise their own cells.
Six hours later, 24 to 48 hour-old larvae are introduced from
the chosen breeder queen, making sure there is pollen and the
colony is fed heavily.
Of the 80% resultant queen cells, 10% are not viable either
because they are not properly formed or they fail to emerge.
Thus from 100 day old larvae, 80 queen cells are produced but
10% (8) fail to emerge so only 72 are viable.
When the cells are ripe and due to emerge within 48 hours,
some are put into 4 or 5 frame nuclei and some are put into full
colonies where there is an unsatisfactory queen or where
swarm cells are evident.
Any ripe queen cells not used in either nuclei or colonies are
put into Apideas, and the statistics shown on the table are from
this source.
I prepared these statistics to determine when was the optimum
time to graft (or as my practice is, to put the chosen breeder
queen in the Jenter to raise cells) and when I was wasting my
time and effort. I also reasoned that the queen cells in the
mini-nucs would reflect what was going on in the colonies and
nuclei.
Queen cells can be raised early in the year but if there are no
mature drones available you are wasting your time.
Likewise at the end of the year unless drone colonies are de-
queened, drones are killed in the York area sometime as early
as July dependent on weather; queens will therefore fail to
mate.
One of the problems of queen rearing is that from eggs being
laid, by the time of emergence at day 16 a complete change in
weather patterns may or probably does occur.
It should be noted that these statistics were prior to Varroa,
which was found in the York area in 1997.
Although I have not continued to keep the detail, I have some
statistics after Varroa
It was in 2000 when we had 100% conversion from cells to
queens when all colonies were on borage which yields a good
honey crop.
In 2003 184 cells produced 96 queens (52%).
In 2004 because of poor weather and my trying an incubator
for the first time and cooking cells, 92 cells resulted in only 27
queens (29%).
In 2005 132 Cells raised 56 queens (42%).
Most of the queen cells were used in colonies in 2005 because
increased honey yields were required.
Most of the 2005 queens have now been over wintered in full
colonies and it is my intention during 2006 spring inspections to
note the survival rates because as usual there will be one or two
drone layers and some losses from starvation.
Generally the losses are in the region of less than 12%
Michael MacGiolla Coda who has raised many queens says he
has found that of
100 day old larvae grafted;
50 cells go to the incubator;
48 cells hatch;
45 queens fly resulting in 43 mating successfully (43%).
Even in Denmark where a "ring" of very experienced beekeep-
ers raise about 10,000 queens calculate that of
100 day-old la rvae grafted (at 6 hours)
80 cells go to the incubator,
72 cells hatch;
57 queens fly resulting in 50 properly mated queens (50%).
I am publishing these statistics to advise anyone who is con-
sidering or has tried to produce queens what success to expect.
I think this is preferable rather than to have people who start
raising queens be disappointed and think they are failing when
they only have a comparatively low number of queens to day
old larvae and cells.
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 9
Week 4 1 2 3 4 5
June 1 2 3 4
July 1 2 3 4
August 1
Jenter in and EggsTaken Month April May
Some queen rearing statistics
Tom Robinson
Statistics converting Cells to Qeens in mininucs.
1990
Cells Queens %
1991
Cells Queens %
1992
Cells Queens %
17 2 12 80 36 45 28 8 28 53 31 58 87 36 41 75 36 48 9 5 56 11 1 9 26 15 58 50 36 72 61 31 50 30 26 87 34 30 88
9 46 38 83 59 12 20 17 15 88 54 25 46 66 46 70 63 33 52 47 34 72 55 33 60 29 23 79 26 13 50 48 31 65 55 28 51
25 23 92 28 14 50 40 22 55 30 5 17 35 16 45
101 38 38
693 342 359 317 213 212
46% 62% 59%
Some thoughts on drone laying queens Bill Spence
We first came across Drone Laying Queens in June of
2004. This was a batch of nucs as part of our queen rear-
ing project at the Earth Centre. One third had failed to
mate: these grafts were taken in the 3rd week of May. In
my own apiary I had queens mated and laying by the 27th
May, these were from four strong colonies that had been
Snelgroved the last week of April. All four Queens mated
successfully, in a few days of fine weather.
Casting our minds back to the first few months of 2004
the weather for the first three months was very dry with
very little rain, snow or frost. Early swarms were report-
ed in late March (Beecraft). April was also a good month
with colonies building up rapidly, and swarming became
commonplace.
Following an early spring we normally have a poor sum-
mer, 2004 was no exception. Cold winds, cloudy skies
pouring rain. A poor summer for beekeeping in most
areas. Rape was in full flower for most of April, surplus
was reasonable. The early days of May were quite good
weather, but from there on conditions deteriorated rapid-
ly. There were very few weather windows for Queens to
mate the required number of times.
Main stocks moved onto the borage the end of the last
week in June favoured little better with approximately half
the normal yield. One site lost 150 acre, rotted away after
10 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Some queen rearing statistics
Tom Robinson
1994
Cel I s Queens %
Summary
Cells Queens 96
17 2 12% 161 75 47%
55 38 60 226 115 51% 36 27 75 123 79 64% ) 33 15 46 158 102 65%
55 38 60% ) 130 52 10% )
43 31 72 100 77 71% )Optimum 32 23 71 142 90 63% )Times 10 10 53 103 66 64% )
129 72 56% ) 53 37 70% ) 70 27 30% 35 16 46%
101 38 38%
218 1612 114 886
66% 55%
Bee Craft
A full colour monthly beekeeping magazine for beginners and experts
alike, covering all aspects of beekeep- ing in Great Britain and Ireland
FREE SAMPLE COPY on
request
£20.00 for 12 issues
Credit cards accepted
Bee Craft Ltd 107 Church Street
Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6QF United Kingdom
Email: [email protected] www.bee-craft.com
Tom Robinson
Some thoughts on drone laying queens Bill Spence
swathing ready for the combine. Bees could not be moved
from this site until September, land was so waterlogged.
The heather crop was no better - an average yield of 13
lb.
What I am trying to show here is how dreadful the sum-
mer weather was, with no weather windows for Queens to
mate correctly.
Dealing with the mating of the Queen, she usually flies to
mate approx. 5 days after hatching. She remains in mat-
ing condition for approx. 5 days (there are exceptions).
She needs to fly several times to obtain the 12-20 matings
required to retain a sufficient volume of sperm to give her
the laying span of approx 3 years.
When the Queen mates the drone passes a package of
sperm wrapped in its own membrane, this is stored in the
spermatheca followed by all the other packages.
I am not a scientist but a practical beekeeper of some 60
years experience. So can we turn to a little bit of theory.
Provided the Queen mates 12-14 times and lives the 3
years, this gives an average life of 3 months use for each
package: i.e. 4 packages per year. (More likely to be 4
packages for the breeding months and one for the hiber-
nation months).
We now have the background for the situation that arose
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 11
Some thoughts on drone laying queens
Bill Spence
during the last eight months of 2004 and the first four of
2005.
1. Some Queens did not mate at all = Immediate drone
layers.
2. Mated twice, laid for three to four months and then
became drone layers.
3. Mated three times and then became drone layers -in
Spring 2005
4. Mated four times and were superseded in April/May
2005 or swarmed.
5. Mated successfully.
As an association we had several reports of drone laying
Queens from June 2004 onwards. In September 2004 I
received a report of 10 drone laying Queens from a batch
of imported Queens.
April of 2005, when first examinations took place, saw
the devastation of drone laying Queens that had run out
of sperm during the winter months. Almost every mem-
ber reported drone laying Queens, many were new mem-
bers with their first colony, and we also had the normal
winter losses. My thought on this is that there were not
enough "Fine Weather Windows" for Queens to mate a
sufficient number of times to be successful. We also had
Queens flying in the morning with few drones. The
majority of drones seemed to fly in the afternoon, this
meant a large number of matings were local as the usual
drone corridors were not formed.
On this lack of mating: going back some 20 years, I ran
a totally separate apiary using Queens imported from
New Zealand for a 3 year period.
The Queens were imported the first week of May.
Queens were artificially inseminated. Time showed that
many of these only had a life span of 15 months and were
superseded as they started to fail. In other words an
insufficient number of drones were used.
With regard to Roger Patterson's comments of damage
made by varroa mites, I would agree. With a farming
background I have found that over the years most forms
of animal life have a period of infertility (including
humans), brought about by poor conditions - lack of food
- incorrect diet - stress or injury.
There is no doubt at all that colonies of bees are under
stress for many reasons, injury from the varroa mite
being one of them: this will affect the mating abilities of
damaged drones.
Having said this, what happened to nature's survival of
the fittest? Or the strongest male takes the prize?
Damaged animal life would never be in the position to
mate. If all colonies are treated correctly for varroa in the
spring the number of mites per cell must be very small.
For many years now I have practised line breeding, both
Queens and drones. All drones from colonies that are not
selected are eliminated, after the cells are capped it is
easy to run a hive tool over them and knock the caps off.
The liquid ones are reabsorbed and the mature ones
thrown out - all immature varroa are destroyed. The
colonies chosen to rear drones are propped up by insert-
ing drone based foundation; this is done late March or
early April depending on the weather, as from egg to
maturity for a drone takes 38 days.
Flood the area with drones that you want your Queens
to mate with. These colonies should not be used for
honey production so treatment for varroa could be con-
tinued with. You will also need to feed frames of pollen
so that the drones are reared on a correct diet, or poor
quality will result. These frames can be destroyed after
the end of June while full of brood, thus reducing the var-
roa content of the hive by a large number. You need
somewhere in the region of 100 drones for every Queen
you want to mate.
However, I do believe that 2004 was a blip in the Queen
mating sequence caused by the very poor weather. 2005
was the second year of our Queen rearing project. We
had a 90% plus success rate on Queens mating success-
fully - our problem lies with the nursery colonies, which
brought our success rate to down to around 50%. We
hope to rectify this in 2006.
Not one drone layer to date in 2005. Spring 2006 will tell
the story.
Bill Spence
South Riding B.K.A.
12 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
BIBBA Annual General Meeting 2006
David Allen
Bee Improvement & Bee Breeders' Association
(Registered Charity 273827)
Seminar, Annual General Meeting and Members'
Forum
To be held on Sunday 23rd April 2006 at
10.00am in the
British Bee Keepers Association Headquarters,
Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire
Programme for the day
10.00 am
Seminar: Registration and coffee.
10.30 am
Opening and welcome by BIBBA President Micheál Mac
Giolla Coda.
10.35 am
Lecture by Sue Cobey. Chairman Terry Clare.
11.30 am
Interval.
11.50 am
Lecture by Sue Cobey. Chairman Terry Clare.
13.00 pm
Lunch break: tea and coffee provided.
following committee members offer themselves for re-
election: David Allen, Janet Hinchley, Richard Jackman
and Lester Wickham.
8. Any special motions received and accepted for discus-
sion.
14.40 pm
Members' Forum: chaired by Vice Chairman John
Perkins.
16.00 pm
Close.
Sue Cobey is Staff Apiarist, University of Ohio, an excel-
lent lecturer and world renowned for her bee breeding
and Instrumental insemination activities.
14.00 pm
Annual General Meeting: (Chaired by either Micheál Your Committee has planned this event to have the min-
Mac Giolla Coda (President) or Terry Clare (Committee imum formality, as you can see by the time allocated for
Chairman). the A.G.M. Please make a special effort to attend, not
only to provide a prime audience for our guest speaker
Agenda but also to air your ideas in the new Members Forum.
1. Reading of the notice of the Annual General Meeting. This is your opportunity to influence the plans and think-
2. Apologies. ing of your committee. With Tropilaelaps, Kashmir Bee
3. Minutes of the 2005 A.G.M. Virus and the Small Hive beetle ready to be imported on
4. Matters arising. the backs of foreign bees now is the time to improve
5. Trustees Report. what bees we have.
6. Accounts to the year end December 31st 2005.
7. Election for the honorary post of Secretary (one nom-Please bring this issue along with you to the AGM
ination received); two new committee nominations
received to date (Feb 19th); and retiring by rotation, the David Allen
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 13
BIBBA Accounts 2005
Receipts and Payments
RECEIPTS
2005
£ £
2004
£ £
Subscriptions 4,704 4,415 Gift Aid 896 1,963 Sales of publications and videos 1,829 1,842 Interest received 888 624 Donations 329 787 Legacy 89 10,926 Research fund 112 900 Cumbria BKA 150 Miscellaneous 35 - Received for Apimondia accomodation 1,991 -
10,873 21,607 PAYMENTS Committee meeting expenses 827 743 Trade stand fees and expenses 853 1,306 Apimondia 2,711 1,010 Bee improvement magazine costs 5,286 3,506 Reprint books 1,140 1,025 Josef Stark's Scholarship Foundation appeal 741 Secretary's expenses 158 240 Treasurer's expenses 135 50 Book sale expenses 341 211 Group Secretary's expenses 239 123 Membership Secretary's expenses 126 117 Website costs 2,197 Gift Aid Tax software 90 Archive 177 Workshops 51 Apimondia accomodation 1,981 Advertising 120 168 Production of badges 933 Worldpay 235 BBKA capitation 35 Laptop cost 298 Accountancy 223 217 Bank charges 40
9,775 17,878
NET (PAYMENTS)/RECEIPTS FOR THE YEAR (7,005) 11,832
CASH AND BANK BALANCES AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2004 24,473 11,004
14 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
BIBBA Accounts 2005
Assets and Liabilities; Accountants' Report
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2005
Monetary Assets
2005
£ £
2004
£ £
CAF Gold account 17,067 24,096 Alliance & Leicester account 1 1
Petty cash account 400 376
17,468 24,473
Total per Receipts and Payments account 17,468 24,473
Stock of books 5,388 7,246
Liabilities - Accountancy fees (235) (223)
Other assets
The display stand graphics, uniforms and laptop have been written off as expenses during the year.
Accountants' Report
for the Year ended 31st December 2005
We have prepared the foregoing Receipts and Payments Account and Staement of Assets and Liabilities from the books and records maintained and from other information and explanations supplied to us, without carrying out an audit.
we certify that to the best of our knowledge and belief, these accounts are in accordance with those records and information given to us.
Harlington House 3 Main Street Fulford York YO10 4JH
16th February 2006 Robinson & Co
Chartered Accountants
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 15
BIBBA Trustees' Report 2005
BEE IMPROVEMENT AND BEE BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST
DECEMBER 2005
Legal and Administrative details: The Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association is registered with The
Charity Commissioners (No. 273827) and governed by a Constitution and Rules
dated 27th April 1997. Its principal address is 75 Newhall Road, Kirk Sandal!,
Doncaster DN3 1QQ.
The Charity's working name is the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders'
Association known by the acronym BIBBA.
The Association's bankers are: - The Alliance and Leicester (GIRO) Bootle,
Merseyside. GIR OAA. and CafCash Ltd. PO Box 289, West Mailing, Kent. ME19
4TA.
The auditors are Robinson & Co., Main Street, Fulford, York.
Organisational Structure: The Charity is administered by an Executive Committee comprising Michael
MacGiolla Coda (President) and committee members (who are The Trustees): -
Terry Edward Clare (Chairman), David Allen (Secretary), Tom Watson Robinson
(Treasurer), Lester Geoffrey Wickham, Brian Dennis, Philip Denwood, Alan
Bernard Hinchley, Janet Mary Hinchley, Richard Radclyffe Jackman, Albert Knight,
Dr. Dorian Pritchard, John Richard Peter Perkins, Dorothy Ann Sandra Unwin and
Angus Stokes. Additionally committee members appointed by the British, Welsh,
Scottish, Ulster and Irish national Bee Keeping Associations either attend commit-
tee meetings or correspond as full committee members.
Structure of the Organisation:
Executive Committee
Finance & General Purposes Committee
Four sub committees dealing with: - Membership, Groups, Breeding and
Conservation, Magazine and Publications. These report and make recommenda-
tions to the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
The aim of this structure is for the sub-committees to deal in detail with issues
relating to subjects that they have been charged with and to make recommenda-
tions to the Finance & General Purposes Committee on those issues. The Finance
& General Purposes Committee then make reports to the Executive Committee for
decisions to be made.
The Finance & General Purposes Committee comprises 4 members of the
Executive Committee. The four sub-committees comprise members of the
Executive Committee with the addition of co-opted BIBBA members who have rel-
evant skills and talents.
The Executive Committee meets three times a year. The Charity has no paid
employees and relies entirely on the goodwill and voluntary work of members.
Charity Objectives: The objective of the charity as set out in its constitution is "The Conservation,
restoration, study, selection and improvement of native and near native honey-
bees of Britain & Ireland."
The aim of the Trustees is to provide educational activities such as conferences,
workshops, and seminars along with the publication of pamphlets, books and a
magazine. Lectures are given to beekeeping organisations to encourage the for-
mation of breeding groups working to breed and conserve the native bee.
The Association's main income is from members' subscriptions, sales of publica-
tions and donations from members and charitable trusts. The donations from
charitable trusts being used to facilitate surveys, scientific testing and research
into the resistance to Varroa destructor in native bee colonies.
Activities during 2005: Committee members continued to tread the lecture circuit representing the
Association. Our President Michael Mac Giolla Coda gave 12 presentations rang-
ing from Ireland to England. Albert Knight gave 8 lectures travelling as far as
Gormanston (Ireland), the Welsh Spring Convention and the Yorkshire B.K.A Field
Day. Tom Robinson gave 4 presentations travelling as far as Redhill, Surrey. John
Perkins made 6 visits, Terry Clare roved around the islands 28 times. Philip
Denwood and David Allen ventured onto the lecture circuit once each. Preliminary
work was undertaken to prepare some standard illustrated lectures in order to
encourage those members who are happy to address meetings to be confident of
their facts. Other members have taken on invitations to carry out lectures with-
out the reports of their visits being passed to the Secretary.
Apimondia As this biennial global event was taking place in the Republic of Ireland, it was
decided that BIBBA should attend, taking a stand adjacent to the stands of the
Ulster Beekeepers Association and the Federation of Irish Beekeepers. The com-
mittee felt that this was an appropriate time to demonstrate the Association's sup-
port for its many members in the island of Ireland. We were enabled to take the
decision to commit the appropriate funds as we had received a legacy from the
estate of the late Eddie Gough, a former committee member. The opportunity
was taken to develop a long needed "corporate identity". Graphics were designed
to suit an exhibition shell stand to be used at major beekeeping events and blue
shirts with the BIBBA logo and a yellow tie were provided and worm by all those
staffing the stand. One afternoon of lectures was chaired by BIBBA, two work-
shops and two live demonstrations were carried out by members. The visit to the
Galtee Bee Breeders Group apiary at Cahir, Co. Tipperary, was run and steward-
ed by Irish BIBBA members. Apimondia proved to be the catalyst that we had
been looking for, for it exposed our vision in conservation, publications and our
magazine, with its high quality articles ,to worldwide beekeepers.
Queen Rearing Workshops During 2005 the East Midlands Group continued to mate queens at the isolated
Derbyshire mating site. Members were kept increasingly busy in hosting visits
from other breeding groups. Experiments were carried out on different ways of
maintaining powerful cell-raising colonies. The Weald and Bromley group of Kent
Beekeepers held an open day. Many BIBBA members who are the backbone of
the Bee Instrumental Insemination Group attended its annual workshop on
improving insemination techniques. Three members were invited to demonstrate
queen-rearing techniques at the Yorkshire Beekeepers Association Field Day in
June.
Shows The Welsh Beekeepers Convention (held in March), the British Beekeepers
Association Spring Convention (held in April) and The National Honey Show (held
in October) saw the Association stand attracting both members and prospective
members. The Weald and Bromley Group attended Kent County show.
Computerisation Development of computer programme leading towards the establishment of a
Stud Book on Apis mellifera mellifera continued. The website was rebuilt at a pace
dictated by the volunteer time available. E-commerce and shopping systems were
included ready for launching in April 2006
Groups The Galtee Bee Breeders Group in the Republic of Ireland has been so successful
in its selection, breeding, distribution and demonstration of the Irish black bee that
16 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
satellite groups are now being formed following the proven principles established
by Michael Mac Giolla Coda and the founding members of the G.B.B.G. In the
autumn Sandra Unwin took on the duties of Groups Secretary and started to
establish her own links with the score of groups on the database.
Breeding for resistance to Varroa destructor parasitic mite John Dews, of the North Yorkshire Group, continued his daily counts of dropped
Varroa mites. The incidence of damage to legs and carapace of this parasite con-
tinued to improve illustrating the greater qualities of hygienic behaviour in the
bees. John Dews was invited to carry out a presentation of his work for the
Beekeeping Unit at the Central Science Laboratory at Sands Hutton, near York.
Cooperation with the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects at Sheffield University Contact with L.A.P.S.I. continued on an informal level
The John Spedan Lewis Foundation A start was made on an Apis mellifera mellifera survey with the offer of funding
from this foundation. Logistical and staffing problems led to slower progress than
was anticipated. Towards the end of the year contacts were made with possible
alternative sources of D.N.A testing services.
Membership as at 31st December 2005: Ordinary members
319
Life members
35
Honorary members
11
Total
365 of which 52 were new and 6 complimen-
tary.
Membership has increased by 12% over the year.
36% of members Gift Aided their subscriptions.
The next Twelve months: In the next year the trustees will maintain its policy of providing the Bee
Improvement Magazine, workshops on morphometry and queen rearing and sup-
port to groups by making breeding stock available.
Investment Policy: The trustees have the power to invest in such assets as they see fit. Monies not
required for immediate running costs of the association are held in an interest
bearing account at the Charities Aid Foundation in a CAFcash account. It is pro-
posed to establish a reserves policy and to open a Reserve Account in early 2006
in compliance with the Charity Commission requirements.
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities: The Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to pre-
pare a financial statement for each financial year, which give a true and fair view
of the charity's financial activities during the year and of its financial position at
the end of the year. In preparing the statement, the trustees are required to
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; make judge-
ments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; state whether applicable
accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been fol-
lowed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial state-
ments; prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is
inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose
with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and
enable them to ensure that financial statements comply with the Charities Act
1993. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and
hence for taking reasonable steps for prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities.
Networks: Being specialist members of the British Beekeepers Association we were repre-
sented at their A.G.M and A.D.M. CONBA (Confederation of Beekeeping
Associations) meetings were attended. A representative attended the Annual Bee
Meeting hosted by D.E.F.R.A. Dr Dorian Pritchard and Philip Denwood are com-
mittee members of the European black bee organisation known as SICAMM.
Angus Stokes, who served on the committee for many years and held the posts
of both Chairman and President has decided to resign from committee member-
ship at the 2006 AGM. Angus brought his scientific understanding along with his
business acumen to bear on the deliberations and activities of the Association.
It is right, at the close of this report, to express our regret that due to health
problems, Albert Knight, (Mr. BIBBA to the beekeepers in the five countries of
these Islands), has had to withdraw from direct participation in the activities of the
Association. For the last six years Albert held the posts of Groups Secretary,
Conservation Group leader and East Midland Breeding Group leader.
Signed on behalf of the trustees
Terence Edward Clare Chairman
David Allen Hon. Secretary
Date 19th Feb 2005
BIBBA Nomination Form
We, the undersigned, support the nomination of
in the position of Secretary/ Member of the Central Committee. The nominee has
agreed to serve in such a capacity for a period of 3 years.
Proposed by
Seconded by
Date / /2006 Please forward to The Secretary BIBBA
75 Newhall Road, Doncaster.DN3 1QQ by Sunday 26th of March
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 17
BIBBA AGM minutes 2005
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (UK charity No.273827) at the National Beekeeping Centre, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire; April 17th 2005.
Present: 27 members
Apologies were received from Dorian Pritchard, Bill Spence, Robert Jones, Bill
Dartnell, and Keith Cosgrove.
Minutes: The minutes of the 2004 AGM had been circulated at reception at
10.00 am. Their acceptance was proposed by Albert Knight and seconded by Peter
Rose. Unanimously accepted by show of hands.
Matters arising: There were no matters arising.
Trustees Report: This report (required by The Charity Commission) had been
published in edition 19 of Bee Improvement Magazine and copies were also made
available at Reception.
The acceptance was proposed by Alan Jones and seconded by Brian Milward.
Unanimously accepted by show of hands.
Treasurers Report: Being published in edition 19 of B.I.M and circulated at
reception Tom Robinson (Treasurer) commented. The accounts had been
changed to "Receipts and Payments format" as the preferred method of the
Charity Commission. Gift Aid of £1963 represented claims for 5 years plus inter-
est. The liquid assets of the Association had been greatly augmented by the
receipt of the Eddie Gough bequest. The acceptance was proposed by John Hall
and seconded by Dave Cushman. Unanimously accepted by show of hands.
Election of Committee Members: No nominations had been received by The
Secretary prior to the meeting.
John Perkins having been co-opted in 2004 was proposed by Terry Clare and sec-
onded by David Allen. Unanimously acclaimed by show of hands.
Alan Hinchley and Terry Clare, standing down by rotation offered themselves for
re-election. Their re-election was proposed by Albert Knight and seconded by
Richard Jackman. Unanimously acclaimed by show of hands.
Terry Clare stated that he had two suggested members to be considered for co-
option at the first committee meeting in May.
Prior to the AGM Alan Hinchley had given prior notice of his intention to cease to
be Publications Officer after this meeting. Brian Dennis offered a sincere vote of
thanks on behalf of the Association.
Tom Robinson then proposed and Albert Knight seconded the proposition that
Alan be made an Honorary Member as a token of thanks for his years of service.
The vote of thanks was recorded and the proposition that he be made an
Honorary Member unanimously agreed.
David Allen then proposed and Albert Knight seconded the proposition that Lester
Wickham be made an honorary member as a token of thanks for his very long ser-
vice as a committee member and Treasurer. The proposition was unanimously
acclaimed by show of hands.
Appointment of Account Examiners: Treasurer Tom Robinson proposed that
Robinson and Co of York act in the current financial year. The proposal was sec-
onded by Lester Wickham and unanimously accepted by show of hands.
Any other business:
The Joseph Stark Trust: Tom Robinson gave news that BIBBA had been asked
to nominate the first young beekeeper to benefit from a scholarship paid for by
The Joseph Stark Trust of Sweden. Tom proposed and Lester Wickham second-
ed young beekeeper Richard Jefferson of Staithes, North Yorkshire, grandson of
member Alan Jefferson. Richard had kept bees with his grandfather since the age
of 8 and had taken his first exam at the age of 14. The exact terms of the schol-
arship were not yet known but when they were, they would be published in the
magazine.
Bee Improvement Magazine: Philip Denwood editor, stated that by hook or
by crook 4 issues had been produced in the last year and that the next issue was
on track for being published in June. The supply of articles serious, light hearted,
practical or anecdotal were always in short supply and any contribution by mem-
bers would be welcomed. If the writers considered that their English was not
good enough, they could always be ghost written with their permission. Groups
seem reluctant to communicate yet it is only by the communication of group activ-
ities, their successes and failures that we can increase both their membership,
from reader enquiry and urge others to work together.
Website: Philip continued, as he was also editor of the website. Time was not
always available to achieve what one wants and so the launch of a new website
was still a few weeks away. Credit card payments for publications, subscriptions,
conferences etc. was to play an important role and an account had been set up
with Worldpay since 2003.
David Cushman, Webmaster of note, stated that he was prepared to train some-
one with the use of templates to do the build and control the BIBBA website.
There was reluctance from members of the committee present to take on anoth-
er task, which they felt was above their computer skills level. David went on to
say that he used a cash transfer system called e-money. Upon enquiry from David
Allen as how this worked he stated that it involved registration with an intermedi-
ate service provider who knew your details but paid for goods and charged your
account on the your behalf without revealing card and personal details.
John Hall stated that BBKA had spent £16,000 on their site and were not really
pleased with the result.
Albert Knight stated that in his opinion Dave Cushman's websites was the best on
beekeeping.
Terry Clare stated that we must get our involvement in Apimondia on the web-
site.
Richard Jackman, who had delved into the e-commerce options back in 2002, stat-
ed that at the time Worldpay was the best bet.
After comments by Malcolm Blake and Brian Milward, Terry Clare proposed and
Philip Denwood seconded the proposition that we go live as soon as possible with
Andy Ledbetter and Worldpay and judge the results in a year's time.
The Chairman expressed BIBBA's thanks to Philip for his efforts as double editor
over the last year.
Apimondia: Terry Clare expressed his concerns that the event was fast
approaching and that it was a greater commitment in effort than both The
National Honey Show and Spring Convention. An Exhibitors' Timetable was set
out and there was urgency for decisions. The Secretary asked committee mem-
bers present to attend for five minutes after the close of the AGM in order to set-
tle an early meeting solely on Apimondia.
Conference Secretary: Tom Robinson stated that his thoughts were turning to
holding a formal conference in the Bath area in 2006. Sheffield had hosted twice
and it was time for a change. The SICAMM meeting (believed to be going to
France) was also in the month of September and as some members would sup-
port both it is important not to choose clashing dates.
Terry Clare asked that the Committee also consider an event where the AGM
could be taken along at the same time. The Republic of Ireland came to mind as
an early venue but Wales, Scotland, Ulster and the four quarters of England could
be canvassed for host organisations.
Date of next AGM: As we had engaged the services of Sue Colby it will be held
after the Spring Convention on Sunday 23rd April 2006.
The meeting closed at 2.55.p.m.
18 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
BIBBA Committee
New nominations
John Hendrie (Secretary)
John was first introduced to bees at the age of 6 months, joined Tunbridge Wells BKA
at the age of 13 in 1962 and was elected onto its Committee in 1967. Since then he has
held numerous positions in Kent BKA and its many branches, and is presently its General
Secretary.
John graduated in chemistry and mathematics at Reading University and had a career
in Southern Water, National Rivers Authority and the Environment Agency. For a time
he was the acting County Bee Lecturer for Kent at Hadlow College and for 15 years the
Secretary of the BBKA's Examination Board. He has just retired from the Executive of
the BBKA but continues as Company Secretary, Director and Registrar of BeeCraft Ltd.
and Vice Chairman of the National Honey Show. As a Master Beekeeper he is in demand
as a lecturer, examiner and tutor.
Dr. Mervyn Eddie (New Committe Member)
Mervyn is a mono-gastric nutritionist by profession but worked all over the world with
Unilever as a Senior Manager. His beekeeping, which commenced in his teens, resumed
in 2001 on his retirement to Northern Ireland. Since then he has been awarded his
Intermediate Beekeeping Certificate by the Federation of Irish Beekeeping Associations,
and has held the positions of Chairman of Dromore Beekeepers' Association and
Treasurer of Ulster Beekeepers' Association. He was the instigator of the Ulster Bee
Improvement Group (UBIG) and is a member of BIBBA and the Galtee Bee Breeding
Group.
Brian Milward (New Committee member)
Brian has been keeping bees since taking early retirement from science teaching in
the early 1980s, and joined Warwickshire Beekeepers Association (and thus BBKA)
through his local branch of Warwick & Leamington. He joined BIBBA (as well as the
Central Association, Bees Abroad, Bees for Development and the National Honey
Show) as he has always advocated breeding docile bees from local stocks and has
introduced Galtee bees into his apiaries. In his time he has served as Editor of the
Warwickshire Beekeeper, a term of office as Chairman of WBKA as well as Secretary
of W&LBKA and Office Assistant at BBKA HQ, and is currently Chief Steward for the
Spring Convention and Chairman of his branch. He has passed all the main BBKA
Examination modules and the examinations up to and including Lectureship of FIBKA.
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 19
BIBBA Committee
Retiring members nominated for re-election
David Allen
In April 2006 David Allen ends his term as BIBBA Secretary, having served previously in this
position in the 1970s. He returned to beekeeping in 1998 having had to forgo the hobby for 18
years owing to business pressures. He has taken part in workshops demonstrating the tech-
niques of assessing colonies and of grafting larvae. He is currently Chairman of South Riding
Beekeepers' Association assisting President Bill Spence in the Association's queen rearing pro-
gramme.
Janet Hinchley
Janet was propelled into the fascination of beekeeping and thereafter BIBBA when in 1995 she
married Alan Hinchley, who at that time was BIBBA Postal Sales Officer. Having worked as a
librarian during her professional life she volunteered to be BIBBA archivist upon the death of
Oliver Brooks. Janet is a committee member of Chesterfield & District Beekeepers' Association
and edits their twice-yearly newsletter.
Richard Jackman
Richard Jackman, 58 and a farmer's son, holds a National Diploma in Agriculture and under-
takes many local pollination contracts. He passed an Advanced beekeeping course 1997 and
joined the Bee Farmers' Association in 2002. He serves on the Committees of BIBBA (assisting
at Apimondia 2005); the Bee Instrumental Insemination Group; the Teme Valley (farmers')
Market committee; and the Great Witley beekeepers, for whom as Chair he acquired a
Millennium grant of £5000 for equipment for II & training new recruits.
Lester Wickham
Lester joined BIBBA in 1975 at the BIBBA workshop at Rogate where he was impressed by
the reasoning put forward by Beowulf Cooper for the native bee. The concepts he learned
there he put into practice with his own beekeeping, which at that time went alongside keep-
ing Wensleydale sheep on his hill farm in the Yorkshire Pennines and holding down a job in
Sheffield with a firm of surveyors. For some years he supplied native bees for sale. He has
served BIBBA in the capacities of Committee member, Conference Secretary, Treasurer,
Shows Secretary and Committee Chairman.
20
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Queen rearing in Denmark
Tom Robinson
I first visited Denmark in March 2002 and was most
impressed at the Danish system of completely changing
the brood comb every year. This is because they have
serious outbreaks of American Foul Brood and conse-
quently they rely on what they consider the old comb
being melted down and the frames cleaned with caustic
soda, before being fitted with new foundation.
Although we visited queen breeders and they told us of
their systems, we were unable to see the detail, so when
the opportunity presented itself in June 2005 I revisited
in order to see their systems in operation.
There were only 12 of us on the visit which was arranged
by David Ashton.
After the initial introductions we were told how the aims
of the Danish Queen Breeding "ring" are
1. Gentleness;
2. Non Swarming;
3. Staying on the frame;
4. Honey Production;
5. Nosema Free, using an independent Laboratory to
test;
6. Hygienic behaviour, tested by freezing brood.
We were surprised when we were told that there were
colonies from various parts of the world, from as far as
Egypt and the Caucasus. These are used to produce
queens using the Brother Adam Buckfast system.
The first year, F1 Hybrids are produced and not until the
third year are F3s used in the mating system.
We never needed protective clothing and the only smoke
one beekeeper used was a cigarette.
Grafting of day old larvae starts on 20th May and con-
tinues for 60-64 days until 22nd July. The larvae are put
into a cell raiser for 20 hours (in one case for 48 hours)
and are then put into queen right colonies over a queen
excluder "finisher" colonies
The starter colonies in every case are dealt with as fol-
lows:
There are two colonies each with two queens separated
by a divider board, producing eggs, and larvae, which is
moved over a queen excluder until the brood is sealed;
between them is the single brood box used as the
"Cooker" cell raiser.
Sealed brood is taken from each of the double queen
colonies and put into the cell raiser together with pollen
and every day, up to 60 day-old larvae are introduced.
These are left in for 20-24 hours before being taken out
and 10-12 being put into each finisher colonies.
One thing we learnt was that you must never transfer a
single bee from the cell raiser to the finisher colony as the
bees from the raiser will start to destroy the cells and the
finisher colony will complete the cells' destruction.
When the cells are sealed, they are transferred into incu-
bators until the virgin queens emerge, 80% to 90% are
sold as virgin queens to commercial beekeepers who
arrange mating.
Paul Erik Sorensen has a production line with 3 sets of
starter colonies, producing up to 8,000 queens each year.
Some of the mated queens will go to selected islands, of
which Denmark has many, with known drone lines. No
drones from other colonies are allowed.
There is also a system of "poll mating" on the mainland
with drone colonies and mating nuclei in thick woodland
areas.
When mated queens are taken out of the mininucs, more
young bees are thrown down near the entrance. Before
a new virgin queen is introduced, wait 5 to 7 days, pinch
out any queen cells, and the new queen is put into a
clean mininuc and the bees are introduced to the queen,
rather than the queen being introduced to the bees
Some statistics we were given which you may find inter-
esting are,
Grafting 100 cells of day old larvae,
Produce 80% of sealed cells to incubator
Hatching 90% resulting in 72 queens
Mating 80% equal to 57.6
The final number of fertile queens being 50.
Tom Robinson
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 21
Conferences 2006
The 2006 BIBBA Conference will be held at the
University of Bath (not Bath Spa University as previ-
ously announced), with arrivals from Friday 8th
September, a full day on Saturday 9th, concluding on
Sunday 10th.
There will of course be an interesting programme with
speakers and a lively debate among the participants.
The facilities at the University of Bath are excellent with
a lecture hall just big enough to accommodate our con-
ference, and all the facilities are adjacent.
Getting to Bath:
By Air
Bristol International Airport is the nearest to Bath and is
approximately 21 miles away.
By Rail
Bath Spa mainline station is on the London Paddington to
Bristol line and there are half hourly services.
By Coach
National Express services operate London Victoria to
Bath.
By Car
The University Campus is situated on Claverton Down to
the east of Bath. The A4 and A36 roads run through the
city; the M4 motorway is approximately 10 miles distant.
Parking on the campus is excellent but there will be a
charge.
Bath of course is renowned as a major tourist attraction
and you can visit www.visitbath.co.uk or
www.bath.co.uk.
For a booking form either write to the Treasurer and
Conference Organiser, Tom Robinson whose name and
address and email are shown on page 3, or visit BIBBA
website for details.
As spaces will be limited early booking is recommended.
Conference lecturers will include
Terry Clare
Dr. Dorian Pritchard
Celia Davis
Dr. Ivor Davis
Clive de Bruyn
The Conference will be opened by the President of the
BBKA (Dr. Ivor Davis).
There will be a forum on Assessment especially focussing
on swarming.
22 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
The Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations'
Summer Course 2006 will be held at the Franciscan
College, Gormanston, County Meath, Ireland from Monday
24th-Saturday 29th July. The Guest Lecturer will be
Richard Ball, Devon, UK. The Course Manager is Eddie
O'Sullivan.
Among a full programme of Lectures and Workshops,
BIBBA is honoured to have been invited to put on a series
of Breeding Workshops. The provisional programme for
these is as follows:
Tuesday am: Grafting (manual) & cell raising; John
Perkins, Richard Jackman, David Allen
pm: Jenter & cell raising: Terry Clare, Brian Dennis, Phil
Bourke
Wednesday am: Cell Raising colonies; John Perkins, Philip
Denwood, David Loo
pm: Cell raising colonies: Terry Clare, John Hendrie,
Sandra Unwin
7th SICAMM Conference
September 18-22nd 2006 in Versailles - France
Organised by:
the University of Versailles - Saint Quentin (UVSQ)
the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS)
National Association of Queen Breeders and
Beekeeping Breeding Centres (ANERCEA)
It is our pleasure to announce that the 7th SICAMM
Conference will take place in the prestigious city of Versailles in
France, in the surroundings of Paris, on 18 - 22nd September
2006.
The objectives of SICAMM are the protection and conservation of
the Northern European Honey-Bee, that is the geographical race
Apis me//ifera me/Jifera, including all sub-races and ecotypes still
possible to rescue from extermination, as well as the support of
its breeding and survey.
All information and further details will be given to you in the sec-
ond circular which will be sent to you if you reply to the secre-
tary of the conference:
Thursday: Morphometry; Terry Clare, John Perkins,
Richard Jackman, Philip Denwood
Friday am: Cells & Apideas; Terry Clare, Phil Bourke, Joan
Taylor
by e-mail :
or by post :
arnoldCapge.cnrs-gif.fr
Gérard ARNOLD
Laboratoire Populations, Génétique,
Evolution,
CNRS
Avenue de la Terrasse
91198, Gif-sur-Yvette
France
pm: Cells & Apideas; Terry Clare, Sandra Unwin, Phil
Bourke
(NB details of this programme may be subject to change.)
The Gormanston Conference is by now world-famous for
the high standard of its beekeeping experiences, for its
social side, and for associated attractions including
Swimming, Tennis, Golf, National Honey Show and Annual
Congress.
A brochure and booking form can be obtained from
Michael Woulfe, Tel: 00353 (0) 21 4631011; email via
Eddie O'Sullivan eosbeeCaindigo.ie
Please complete this form to receive the 2nd circular and the reg-
istration form:
Surname:
Name:
Title:
Institute:
Address:
Town/city:
Postal code:
Country:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
We are looking forward to your participation in the conference!
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 23
Breeding groups
Sandra Unwin
Last autumn I was asked to take on the job of Breeding Group
Secretary. This as many of you will know, had been one of the
many jobs undertaken by Albert Knight. As Albert had for some
time kept us all, on the BIBBA Committee, aware of the prob-
lems he was facing with his failing sight, we were not surprised
when the time came for him to retire from the many commit-
ments he had undertaken. And we were all very saddened
when Albert told us his treatment could go no further.
Since taking over the job of Breeding Group Secretary for
BIBBA I have contacted most of our known groups. It was grat-
ifying to see so many up and coming groups and the great
enthusiasm shown by the members in them. When I consider
the negativity of those who say it is not possible to breed
natives because of the constant damage done by foreign
imports, I was quite surprised at the number of native bee
breeding groups there are. They are evidently not so easily
deterred.
With this in mind I thought it would be very useful to produce
a map showing native bee breeding areas in Britain and Ireland.
However to produce this and ensure its accuracy, it would be
necessary to take samples of bees and perform morphometry
on them. This fits in neatly with Albert's project already
planned. Albert still needs samples sending in so please have a
look at your bees at your earliest opportunity and if you have
not yet sent a sample please do!
There is a great deal going on in England and I know that
strains of native bees can still be found in Wales. Although not
a lot is know about the bees of Scotland, I feel sure this is an
environment where native bees can still be found and would
very much like to hear from any breeding groups that are estab-
lished up there.
If you would like to start breeding your own strain of native
bees and would like any information or assistance, please con-
tact me on <[email protected]>
For those of you who are going to Gormanston, Ireland this year
I will see you there.
Regards,
Sandra
BIBBA Survey of Apis mellifera mellifera
Wanted - bee samples
BIBBA is organising a survey to identi-
fy strains of Apis mellifera mellifera. Preliminary samples of a matchbox-full
of bees per colony are required. Those
found by morphometry to be promising
will be followed up by DNA analysis at
the University of Copenhagen.
If you have any bees you think may be
A.m.m., please contact Albert Knight
for instructions at 11 Thomson Drive
Codnor, Ripley
Derbyshire DE5 9RU
Tel: 01773 745287
24 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Drone congregations
Beowulf Cooper
My subject for tonight is one which most of the beekeepers on
the continent know more about than those of the British Isles,
yet I have been asked to speak about my experiences in
Britain.
My first introduction to drone assemblies (in fact. I did not
know it was an assembly) was in 1944 when I had been keep-
ing bees for a year, I heard this unusual sound overhead. which
many of you will have heard at some time, but, in fact, I must
have witnessed bees in congregation areas before then. Since
then I have studied them more deeply and therefore I want to
put forward some ideas which may not be common knowledge.
There are two distinct types of drone assemblies known to me.
My first illustration shows the local assembly. These are gen-
erally not far away from the apiary. This type of assembly I
prefer to call the "bubble assembly". It occurs in a bubble of
warm air which generally forms during a sunny period of the
day, or when a brief gap in the clouds permits sunshine for a
few minutes. The bubble of warm air then forms in a place
which is well sheltered from the winds.
Bubble assembly site at Snitterfield, Warwickshire. A bubble
of warm air forms between the buidlings and the trees even
on cool days as long as the sun is shining.
The shelter may he a building, a hedge or some trees. The
bubble can also form near a hill or a rise, even in a valley.
During the period of radiation from the sun the air moving more
slowly over the ground is warmed by this or by the buildings
around it. Here the drones fly up and down in the bubble of
warm air at times when it is not warm enough beyond this spot
for the second kind of drone assembly to occur.
Thanks to a small pocket digital thermometer I have been able
to measure temperatures in such places where in the past I had
observed drone comets and have known queens to get mated
close to an apiary. It is a small pocket digital thermometer with
a very fine thermo-couple attached. This thermo-couple may
be carried aloft by a balloon. However, I have only been using
it this year for the first time. In the past I used a small pock-
et mercury thermometer. All my measurements have given me
a clear idea as to why drones are where they are: namely in
warm air.
Many beekeepers must have observed drones flying up and
down in suitable bubble assembly places. They did not call
them bubble assemblies, but here they witnessed drone
comets. They observed queens and drones copulating, some-
times sitting iin twigs or even in the grass before they separat-
ed again and the queen flew back to the hive. This appears to
be a very common occurrence of matings in rather cool, yet
fairly bright weather. It may not occur with every strain of
bees; I have only experience of the bees which I have worked
myself, or those of other beekeepers who told me about their
observations.
The year 1981 has been one with many dull days for us in
Britain. Many beekeepers in our English Midlands who keep
Italian bees complained that their queens failed to mate. But
in the same district, even in the same apiaries, many beekeep-
ers had it satisfactory mating with queens of the mellifera type
- the one you call the black bee. At such cool times the black
drones were flying freely. while the Italian drones were coming
out of the hive and were going straight back in again because
it was too cold for them. I regard this as normal behaviour dur-
ing cloudy and dull weather on "fairly warm" days, and by that
I mean any day with temperatures just a little above 10°C.
During a gap in the clouds in the middle of the day solar radi-
ation is able to warm some bees, but not others. I am not sure
if this is due to differential heat absorption because of the dark
pigmentation or whether it is related to other biological factors
in these bees.
My colleagues in the Department of Environmental Physics at
the University of Nottingham have placed worker and drone
bees under various conditions of artificial radiation, both light
radiation and heat radiation. They found that dark pigmenta-
tion is a great help to keep bees warm even in cool weather.
I will now turn to the other kind of drone assemblies which I
call the "vortex assembly" of which there are many kinds, all of
which are based on the same effect. One I call the "pass vor-
tex assembly"; hill walkers among you will understand the term
"pass". At the point where two valley systems are meeting
between two mountain ranges we can find pass assemblies.
Here the sun warms the ground on both sides. The ground in
turn warms the air immediately above it and this air tries to
rise. Cold layers of air prevent a vertical rise and so a gentle
air movement flows over the ground, crossing the contours of
the land until it meets the rising air stream flowing upwards
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 25
Drone congregations
Beowulf Cooper
from the other valley system. The two air streams collide in the
pass.
Pass assembly site, Crask of Aigas, Inverness-shire. Warmed
air streams up on both sides of the pass creating a vortex.
In a pass we have mountains on each side and the ground
below. Here therefore the only way for the air streams to move
is upwards and here the energy of motion of the two opposing
air masses will create a vortex which will twist its way into the
sky. Heat energy provided by the sun drives the system.
About twenty years ago on Port Erin golf course in the Isle of
Man, I came across such a pass vortex assembly for the first
time. So we held our 1973 BIBBA Conference in Port Erin
because it was the only place where I knew of a good hotel
within 200 yards of a vortex assembly.
The pass assembly here differed slightly in principle. On an
island, in this instance on the southern tip of an island, the air
over the land mass warms up after a few hours of sunshine.
This rises and draws after itself fresh, cool and damp air from
Relief map of the southern tip of the Isle of Man. The assem-
bly site at the golf course is on the saddle between Port Erin
& Port St.Mary.
the sea. On an island such as the Isle of Man there is therefore
an onshore wind during the day and all night an offshore breeze
blows out to sea as the land cools rapidly. The situation can be
seen as one looks north across the golf course which is about
40m above sea level. The valley beyond is Fleshwick Valley.
The hills on each side are about 250m high and beyond the pass
the ground drops again to the sea about 2km away. On a warm
day with continuous sunshine a southerly breeze blows up from
Fleshwick Bay; it also blows from Port Erin Bay in the southwest
and another wind comes up from Port St. Mary's Bay in the
south-east. This provides a triangular effect and as the winds
presumably have different strengths and come from different
directtions, the vortex forms, whirling upwards with its centre
somewhere over the golf course by Aaron's ruin. I do not know
why the vortex rises assymetrically, but once it has started, it
builds up to greater velocity and greater height because of the
energy provided by the hcat of the sun. I like to think of it as
a screw screwing its way into the sky when the cool air layer
above the ground is not easily penetrated by the small masses
of warm air underneath it.
So really we have a combination of an island assembly and a
pass assembly. A true island assembly forms where the air is
coming off the sea from all directions, but here we have only
the tip of an island. That is the south-eastern tip of the Isle of
Man.
Because of the junction of three valley systems, this spot also
shows some of the pass assembly characteristics.
On the second day of our Conference a group of beekeepers
threw stones into the air in the hope of getting drones to follow
them on their way to the ground. A day or two later we
obtained some meteorological balloons, and we imprisoned two
newly emerged queens as well as queen cells in hair curler
cages and sent them aloft with the balloons. Then we walked
up and down and across the golf course in order to find the area
where drones would be attracted to our lures by the
pheromones of the queens and the cells.
From the behaviour of the balloons it became apparent that,
while the air in the vortex was rising, a current of air, presum-
ably cooler, was drawn down at the periphery to replace any air
pulled into the vortex. Such air movemenis could be studied
more easily by means of smoke generators or smoke bombs,
but these are rather expensive.
We discovered that when we used two meteorological balloons
they often twisted around each other within the vortex. To
overcome the problem we attached two further (toy) balloons
to the other two. This stopped the twirling motion and the sys-
tem was then fairly well balanced.
Drones could be seen flying towards the balloons rather than
the queens and on this occasion we had tethered our queen
26 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
V4t0ON.) NEQT6! QYso 04
pt s AGg 4442E
with a nylon thread around her waist - between thorax and
abdomen. A comet of drones was seen to be following her.
These events were recorded on film using a telephoto lens.
Cyril Wright tethering queen (visible on his hand) to helium-
filled balloon at Derbyshire Coll. of Agriculture, June 1981.
The vortex screwing its way into the sky is repeatedly cut in
two by cross-winds. We were in a fairly exposed place near the
sea and cross-winds can whip away some of the aroma of
pheromones. Drones could be seen flying one way, still keep-
ing tightly together and following a "bubble" sweet with the
pheromone, while the queen and another cluster of drones is
somewhere else. It can be quite a strong wind which is sever-
ing the vortex and drones will stay with it. One by one they
gradually lose the scent and will break away from the small bub-
ble; they are blown off the pheromone trail.
The drone comet was seen at various stages. When we wound
the balloons in we were surprised to see drones following them
to the ground from 30-50 metres up in the sky. This particu-
lar point was on the side of a small hill on the golf course and
we noticed drones flying up from Port St.Mary, about 2 miles
away along one particular point. Here it is possible to attract
drones; but aside from this line you cannot do so.
When one can hear drones flying overhead one may therefore
be in the "eye" of the drone assembly or one may be in the cen-
tre of one which slopes obliquely upwards, depending on the
velocity or direction of any cross-winds. On the other hand one
may be standing under the "bee-line" between the apiary and
the drone congregation area.
One delegate touched the queen and then he sent the balloon
aloft again. When he wiped his forehead he transferred some
of the pheromone and the drones assembled on his forehead.
The eye of the drone assembly was in fact 150 to 200 metres
further up the hill side.
A photograph was taken of a drone and queen paired while still
on the line and this we were able to observe on a number of
occasions at the Conference.
(This is the end of all available tape recordings of the lesture.
We were unable to trace any further recordings. We had hoped
that Beowulf Cooper himself could edit the lecture and expand
it where needed. His unexpected death on 4th February, 1982
interrupted that work ....)
My own memory recalls two important points out of the rest of
the lecture. Beowulf Cooper mentioned another cause for a vor-
tex arising in a totally flat area. In this case the break-through
of the weak layers of warmed air at floor level occurs at a focal
point. This point may he a solitary tree or a building. When its
sides are warmed by the sun the thin air layers along the sides
can easily rise vertically and create a chimney effect which
draws finally all warm air layers from all sides into its base. A
drone assembly may form above the tree or building.
MZEE
Mr Cooper also showed us how we can study the vortex effect
in a very simple and inexpensive way. Soap bubbles, as we
know them from childhood days, are full of warm air, our
breath, and can rise or drift easily. As they are light and large,
they follow the winds with very little drag. It is a pity that they
lose water through evaporation from their large surfaces so
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 27
Combs of drone cells can provide large numbers of drones
from desirable queens, which can dominate local assemblies
and also influence the drone composition of more distant
ones.
Mass drone flight often coincides with the mating flights of
queens, and can be a powerful breeding tool especially in
bubble assemblies in cooler weather, or before major vor-
tex assemblies have been set up in high summer.
Kingston, Nottinghamshire, June 1981.
Drone congregations
Beowulf Cooper
rapidly and live for a short time only.
From my own experiences as a boy on the island of Langeoog
- an East-Frisian island, I would like to add the following. We
should not look for true island vortices over the islands in this
chain. The influence of the masses of warm air rising over the
mainland of Northern Germany is so overwhelming that, during
day time, the on-shore winds will not allow the formation of an
island vortex. The strong sea-breeze sweeps across the tops of
dunes and will only permit bubble assemblies between the
dunes and in the larger valleys between them. (Bernhard
Mobus).
Drone mating with tethered queen, held by George
Sommerville. Isle of Man, June 1973.
28 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
Anemometer/weather vane recording wind strenth and direction for
drone assembly study at Greenhill, Banffshire, August75.
Sutton Bonington College of Agriculture, Nottinghamshire.
Meteorological station with apiary in background.
August 1977
Beowulf Cooper with anemometer/weather vane and soap bubbles,
testing at drone assembly near Stranraer, Wigtownshire.
August 1975
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association 29
Drone congregations
Beowulf Cooper
Mrs. Mackenzie's apiary, and at back, view of Knockfarrell
drone assembly site, Ross-shire, October 1975. This is an
assembly site of the "Ridge" type.
Diagram of "Ridge" type of drone assembly site. Streams of
warmed air can form a vortex either at a slight dip in the ridge,
as here, or at a high point as at Knockfarrell above.
1? I1:3G-E. Ee 4 a LY
71-I-ER ti A-L. } ftceuMY —} 94SS
"Comet" of drones chasing queen tethered to balloons, Isle
of Man, June 1973. Such drone comets have also been
observed near the bround within apiaries and in local bubble
assemblies.
Beowulf Cooper
30 © 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
BIBBA publications and software
Better Beginnings for Beekeepers Adrian Waring. 2nd edi-
tion 2004 ISBN - 0 905369 09 2 £9.00 + £1.00.
The Dark European Honeybee by Friedrich Ruttner, Eric
Milner & John Dews £7.00 + £1.00
Breeding Better Bees by John E.Dews and Eric Milner. 3rd
edition 2004. ISBN 1 904623 18 2 £5.50 + £1.00.
Breeding Techniques and Selection for Breeding of the Honeybee Friedrich Ruttner. £4.00 + £1.50.
The Honeybees of the British Isles Beowulf A.Cooper £6.00 + £2.00.
Pedigree Bee Breeding in Western Europe (Proceedings
of the BIBBA Conference, Celle 1981) £2.00 + £1.00.
Raise Your Own Queens (by the punched cell method)
Richard Smailes £1.60 + £1.00.
Queen Raising the Jenkins Way (by grafting) £1.60 +
£ 1.00.
Mating in Miniature Bernhard Mbbus £2.00 + £1.00.
Bee Breeding and Queen Rearing £1.00 + £1.00.
Elements of Genetics with Special Reference to the Bee
J.Mesquida £6.60 + £2.00.
Guidelines for Bee Breeding £1.80 £1.00 + £1.00.
Beekeeping in Britain John Dews & Eric Milner £1.00 +
£ 1.00.
Drawings for the National Hive in Metric and Imperial
Measurements Frank Walsh £2.10 + £1.00.
Introducing You to Hive Record Cards Beowulf Cooper &
Ken Ibbotson. 3 cards in a 4 page folder. 50p + 70p.
Individual Stock Hive Record Cards, with Brief Instructions
10 A5 cards. Beowulf Cooper £1.60 + 70p.
Postal Book Sales:
John Perkins, Tinker's Mill, Crickmerry, Market Drayton,
Shropshire TF9 2BG <[email protected]> 01630 638762
If ordering by post please add postage and packing charge as
indicated. Cheques payable to BIBBA.
Computer Programs for Bee Breeding:
Beewings a Czech morphometry program. About £60 from
<[email protected]>. PC + Excel.
Beemorph a morphometry program. £25: free 1-month demo
from http://www.hockerley.plus.com PC + Excel.
Coorecorder and CBeewings two Swedish programs used
together for morphometry.
50 Euros: free trial from http://www.cybis.se/forfun PC +
Excel.
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GWENYNWYR CYMRU
THE WELSH
BEEKEEPER
The publication of the Welsh Beekeepers
Association, giving news and views of beekeep-
ing in Wales and abroad. Subscription details from:
Mr.H.R.Morris
Golygfan
Llangynin
Sander
CAERFYRDDIN
SA33 4JZ
Tel: 01994 230885
An Beachaire
The Irish Beekeeper
Published monthly UK subscription £14.00 (sterling) per annum.
Republic of Ireland 18 euros per annum
This includes post paid
Sample copy from
David Lee
Hon Manager
Scart, Kildorrery
Co. Cork
Ireland.
© 2006 Bee Improvement is a publication of the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association
31
John Inchley fielding a stable combination of two helium-
filled meteorological ballons and two air-filled toy ballons,
showing drones assembling near his forehead which he had
touched after handling a queen.
Port Erin Golf Course, Isle of Man, June 1973.
Helen Sanders blowing bubbles to track wind speed and
direction at the site of the "Lee Eddy" drone assembly
below Breedon-on-the-Hill Church, Lincolnshire, July 1975.
....4kL,,,. Lee EDDY ,"ASscroi,'. Sketch diagram of the "Lee Eddy" type of drone assem-
bly, in which air currents swirling in the lee of a hill are
heated over arable farmland to form a rising vortex.
Breedon-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire.
Beowulf Cooper throwing a stone into the air to draw
down drones mistaking it for a queen. The Wyloer,
Powys hilltop drone assembly site, July 1978.
IF UNDELIVERED please return to: Brian Dennis, 5o Station Rd, Cogenhoe, Northants NNE iLU
32
Printed by Garvin Print, 106 Shaw Road, Oldham OL1 4AB Tel: 0161 620 1320